Device for spraying loose material



May 259 1943.' T. R. JAMES DEVICE FOR SPRAYING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed Aug. 3, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l ZD 22617201 7230s E. James May 25, 1943. T. R. JAMES DEVICE FOR SPRAYING LOOSE MATERIAL :s Sheets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. 3, 1940 May 25, 1943. T. R. JAMES I DEVICE FOR SPRAYING LOOSE MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 3, 194D ine /3/ JJ: ve/alor 7720s l?. James f Zeig Patented May 25, 1943 DEVICE FOR SPRAYING LOOSE-MATERIAL Thomas R. James, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to General'Mills, Inc., a corporation of Dela- Ware Application August 3, 1940, Serial No. 350,929

(Cl. 9l44) 3 Claims.

An object otthis invention is to provide a simple and ,eiicient means for spraying loose materials as globulesI granules, pelletsflour, akes, and the like which will flow under their own pressure until they assume v their normal angle of repose. The spraying in this case particularlybeing of a globular breakfast food with an oil and water emulsion containing various vitamins and chemicals. Anothery object is to provide means for forming an open circular moving wall of the material to receive the spray from a central point, thev wall being of sufficient thickness to insure that none of` the spray will reach ,the side Walls which moreover are scoured by the moving material.

Another object is the provisionof. means for eillciently controlling the now koi? this loose material as well as of the liquid sprayed.

Still another object is to provide means for automatically stopping all operations of the device when the level of the material inthe bin falls below a predetermined point.

, Another object is to provide means for cleaning the parts adjacent the spray.

These and other objects as will hereinafter apsprayed, the bottom preferably having two bifurcations I3, I4 with a transverse passage I5 therebetween.

Slide valves I6, I1 are slidably mounted between spaced plates I8, I9 to individually close the two legs of the bifurcation. These slide valvesare useful primarilyfor closing the bottom of the bin so that the apparatus below may be entirely free from pressure of the material inthe bin so that these parts may be taken apart for cleaning and inspecting. The bin is supported on suitable beams not shown.

Beneath this bin and spaced therefrom is a passage 25 (Figure 1) which is carried by two transverse plates 26, 21 on suitable supports 28.

- 29. Between the plates. 26, 21 are two reversely pear arev accomplished by this invention which is fully described in the lfollowing.speciilcation and shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure. 1 is a vertical section through one'form of the device as applied to the bottom of the bin, as viewedon the line I-I of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a partial section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 except that in Fig. 2 the valve is shown partially open while in Figure 1 it is closed;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line. 3.--3 of Figure l:

Fig. 4 is a detail of one of the slides of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the double internal cone of Figure 1; l

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of the clip as shown on line 6 of Figure 1;

Fig. '1 is a wiring diagram of the motors `of this device;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a modied form of the device;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail of one of the adjusting handles of Fig. '7 as viewed on the line ill of Fig. 10;

Fig. 10 is a partial side elevation of the verti cally adjustable sleeve; and

Fig. 11 is a partial section on the line I I -I I of Fig. 8.

The embodiment shown in Figures 1 tot,- inclusive, is shown attached to the bottom of a large bln I2 for holding the material to be slidable valve plates 30, 3I having rectangular openings 32, 33, respectively, both of which are setvdiagonally with respect to the length of the plates as shown in Fig. 2, so that they overlap to form a varying rectangular opening 34 through which the material to be treated may pass. The plates 30,3I are provided with lugs 3i!a and 3l, respectively, which are reversely screw-threaded to receive a screw- 38 which has right and left threads and is journalled in suitable lugs 39, 40 andis provided with a hand wheel 4| by means of which it may be turned. Thus the plates 30 and 3i move in and out in opposite directions and in equal amounts so as to vary the size of the opening 34 from zero `as shown in Figure 1 to the double diamond openings of the rectangles 32, 33 when the plates are moved so that the latter are vbelieved in registration.

The passage 25 is preferably round at the top and square at the bottom where it is closed by means of a.V slide valve which is mounted to slide in suitable grooves and is pivotally connected at one end 46 to a link 41, the opposite end of the link 41 being pivotally connected at 48 to a link 49 which is carriedon the end of the shaft 50, the latter being suitably driven by mechanism (not shown) in the box 5I from an electric motor 52. This motor, as will later be explained, operates principally to close the valve Y stantiaily constant head.

member 6| is made in two Sections split along the central vertical plan and having meeting flanges 65 secured together by means of clips as shown in Fig. 6. This clip consists of a ring member 66 having a bar 61 passing through meeting openings in the ilanges 65 and having a compression spring 68 which yieldably holds these l2,319,865. botto-m'zfiang'e 64 of the hopper I2. The conical per enda sheave |44 by means of which it is flanges together. This ring is` at and has small pins 69 extending :therefromwhichare adapted to engage in holes 10 in one of the anges to prevent the ring from turning. .When the ring is turned 90 from the position 'shown in Fig. 6, it may pass through a slot 1I so that the. two halves of the cone 6| may then be separated.

This is for thepurpose of inspecting and clean` ing the inner cone and the spraying device as will now be described.

Within the conical member V6I and spaced therefrom is an inner conical member 80 which is also preferably provided with a conical bottom 8|. This member is secured to the plates I8, I9 by means of screws vManclhas a central tube 83 through which extends a vertical shaft 84 which carries at its bottom a depressed disk 85. The shaft 84 is driven by means of a motor -86 supported on a suitable bracket 81 from. the plates I8, I0, the motor extending into the space I5.

A small tube 80V extends through the tube 83 alongside the shaft 84 and connects toa pump 3| which is driven by a-motor 92 through any form of gear-reduction 93; the pump receiving a iluid to be sprayed through a pipel 84 from any suitable source of supply which maintains a sub- Thus it willbe seen from the foregoing that with the valves 34 and 45 open and with the slide valves I6 and I1 removed, the material in the bin I2 will flow down the two bifurcations through the openings I3, I4 and aroundthe conical member 80 so as to assume a converging internal cone |00, as shown in Figure 1. The angles of the several cones are so selected that the interior of this cone will never touch the disk 85. Y The liquid to be sprayed on the loose material A is fed down through the pipe 80 and the high speed at which this disk is operated causes this material to be thrown oil inthe form of an extremely fine spray which penetrates some distance into the mass of material at A'. Since this material is constantly ilcwing past this point and liquid is continu` ously fed through the pipe 90, this material will thus be sprayed and there will be a considerable mixing of the loose material thus sprayed with the other loose material which is not directly sprayed so that any sample of this material passdriven by a motor |45 through a suitable gear reduction since vthis internalconical member is preferably driven at Ya relatively slow rate of speed.

A shaft |50 passes through the sleeve |4| and is preferably directly driven by the motor I5| and has at its lower end a disk |52 to which a iluid to be sprayed is delivered through a pipe |53, as previously described in connection with Figure 1.

As shownin Figure 11, a double diamond valve may be'supplied, as shown in Fig. 11, consisting of two plates |54, |55 which are constructed and operate substantially like the plates 30, 3| except for the i'act that they are provided with circular notches |56 to permit them to pass around the sleeve |4I.

Another means for controlling the rate of flow of the material is provided in the form of a sleeve |60 which is slidably mounted in the bottom of the passage |2| and` carries handles .|6I, |62

' winch are tapped to receive a screw |63 carried -lease them. They are then turned to adjust the sleeve |60 up or down to the desired point after which these handles are again turned so as to' tighten them on the pipe |2I. This adjusts the sleeve |60 toward and from the cone |40 with the result that the rate of the material passing between the sleeve and the cone is thus regulated.

Referring now to Fig. 7, the bin I2 is provided at a point near its bottom with a pressure-opering the slide valve 45 will be found to contain an ated plate |10 surrounded by a iexible diaphragm |10* and pressed by a spring I1| and connected through a link |12 to a switch |13 in an electric circuit |14. As long as the bin l2 is filled to a point abovera given line |15 with the material to be acted upon, the pressure of this material will cause the plate |10 to be depressed,

compressing the spring I'II and holding the switch |13- closed. Soon, however, as the matefalls below the level |15, the spring |1| acts. -to lift the plate |10 ythereby opening the switch |13. This Switch -|13 is connected in the line )above a main switch |16, the line |14 then con- The passage 2| for the material to be sprayed peated in detail in Fig. 8 but serves in this same v'IIS 'I'hus it will be seen that when the level of tlie material in the bin falls below a predetermined point, the switch |13 will be opened thereby rendering the three motors inoperative. These motors are so timed that the motor 82 supplying liquid to the disk 85 will be stopped in advance ofthe disk itself so that there will be no tendency for this liquid to' accumulate onthe disk.v

By the use of a double diamond" valve the opening remains centered for all sizes so that/the material flows with nearly equal speeds down all y 2,319g8e5 depart from the spirit and scope of my invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. In apparatus for coating loose material, a passage for the material, one wall of the passage being a downwardly converving cone, a downwardly diverging cone above the first-mentioned cone and spaced therefrom to provide a. hollow conical space, the converging cone terminating in a passage substantially smaller than the widest part of the cone, valve means beneath said pas-l sage for supporting the material and for controlling its iiow so as to provide a solid mass thereabove, and means in the hollow conical space for spraying the material surrounding said space with a liquid.

2.In apparatus for coating loose material, a

' passage for the material, one wall of the passage being a downwardly converging cone, a downwardly diverging cone above the first-mentioned cone and spaced therefrom to provide a hollow conical space, means for varying the distance between the cones to vary the depth of material in the hollow conical space, the converging cone terminating in a passage substantially smaller than the widest part of the cone, valve means beneath said passage for supporting the material and for controlling its ow so as to provide a solid mass thereabove, and means in the hollow conical space for spraying the material surrounding said space with a liquid. I

3. In apparatus for coating loose material, a passage for the material, one wall of the passage being a downwardly converging cone. a downwardly diverging cone above the first-mentioned cone,an il spaced therefrom to provide a hollow conical space, the converging cone terminating y in a passage substantially smaller than the widest part of the cone, a valve means which centers the opening as it opens and closes beneath said passage for supporting the material and for controlling its iiow so as to provide a solid mass thereabove, and means in the hollow conical space for spraying the material surrounding said space with a liquid.

THOMAS R. JAMES. 

